Electro-optic displays, and methods for driving same

ABSTRACT

A first display comprises a layer of electro-optic material with first and second electrodes on opposed sides thereof, at least one electrode. One or both electrodes having at least two spaced contacts, and voltage control means are arranged to vary the potential difference between the two spaced contacts attached to the same electrode. A second display comprises a layer of electro-optic material with a sequence of at least three electrodes adjacent thereto. Voltage control means vary the potential difference between the first and last electrodes of the sequence. The electrodes of the sequence alternate between the two surfaces of the layer of electro-optic material, and have edges which overlap with or lie adjacent the preceding and following electrodes of the sequence. The electrodes, other than the first and last, are electrically isolated such that the potential thereof is controlled by passage of current through the layer of electro-optic material. Methods for driving these displays are also provided.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of provisional Application Ser. No.62/100,031, filed Jan. 5, 2015.

This application is also related to application Ser. No. 14/934,662,filed Nov. 6, 2015, which claims benefit of 62/077,154, filed Nov. 7,2014, and of provisional Application Ser. No. 62/099,732, filed Jan. 5,2015.

This application is related to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,930,026; 6,445,489;6,504,524; 6,512,354; 6,531,997; 6,753,999; 6,825,970; 6,900,851;6,995,550; 7,012,600; 7,023,420; 7,034,783; 7,116,466; 7,119,772;7,193,625; 7,202,847; 7,259,744; 7,304,787; 7,312,794; 7,327,511;7,453,445; 7,492,339; 7,528,822; 7,545,358; 7,583,251; 7,602,374;7,612,760; 7,679,599; 7,688,297; 7,729,039; 7,733,311; 7,733,335;7,787,169; 7,952,557; 7,956,841; 7,999,787; 8,077,141; 8,125,501;8,139,050; 8,174,490; 8,289,250; 8,300,006; 8,305,341; 8,314,784;8,373,649; 8,384,658; 8,558,783; 8,558,785; 8,593,396; and 8,928,562;and U.S. Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2003/0102858;2005/0253777; 2007/0091418; 2007/0103427; 2008/0024429; 2008/0024482;2008/0136774; 2008/0291129; 2009/0174651; 2009/0179923; 2009/0195568;2009/0322721; 2010/0220121; 2010/0265561; 2011/0193840; 2011/0193841;2011/0199671; 2011/0285754; 2013/0063333; 2013/0194250; 2013/0321278;2014/0009817; 2014/0085350; 2014/0240373; 2014/0253425; 2014/0292830;2014/0333685; 2015/0070744; 2015/0109283; 2015/0213765; 2015/0221257;and 2015/0262255.

The patents and applications mentioned in the preceding paragraph mayhereinafter for convenience collectively be referred to as the “MEDEOD”(MEthods for Driving Electro-Optic Displays) applications. The entirecontents of all the aforementioned patents and copending applications,and of all other U.S. patents and published and copending applicationsmentioned below, are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods for driving electro-opticdisplays, especially bistable electro-optic displays, and to apparatusfor use in such methods. This invention is especially, but notexclusively, intended for use with particle-based electrophoreticdisplays in which one or more types of electrically charged particlesare present in a fluid and are moved through the fluid under theinfluence of an electric field to change the appearance of the display.

The term “electro-optic”, as applied to a material or a display, is usedherein in its conventional meaning in the imaging art to refer to amaterial having first and second display states differing in at leastone optical property, the material being changed from its first to itssecond display state by application of an electric field to thematerial. Although the optical property is typically color perceptibleto the human eye, it may be another optical property, such as opticaltransmission, reflectance, and luminescence or, in the case of displaysintended for machine reading, pseudo-color in the sense of a change inreflectance of electromagnetic wavelengths outside the visible range.

The term “gray state” is used herein in its conventional meaning in theimaging art to refer to a state intermediate two extreme optical statesof a pixel, and does not necessarily imply a black-white transitionbetween these two extreme states. For example, several of the E Inkpatents and published applications referred to below describeelectrophoretic displays in which the extreme states are white and deepblue, so that an intermediate “gray state” would actually be pale blue.Indeed, as already mentioned, the change in optical state may not be acolor change at all. The terms “black” and “white” may be usedhereinafter to refer to the two extreme optical states of a display, andshould be understood as normally including extreme optical states whichare not strictly black and white, for example the aforementioned whiteand dark blue states. The term “monochrome” may be used hereinafter todenote a drive scheme which only drives pixels to their two extremeoptical states with no intervening gray states.

The terms “bistable” and “bistability” are used herein in theirconventional meaning in the art to refer to displays comprising displayelements having first and second display states differing in at leastone optical property, and such that after any given element has beendriven, by means of an addressing pulse of finite duration, to assumeeither its first or second display state, after the addressing pulse hasterminated, that state will persist for at least several times, forexample at least four times, the minimum duration of the addressingpulse required to change the state of the display element. It is shownin U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,670 that some particle-based electrophoreticdisplays capable of gray scale are stable not only in their extremeblack and white states but also in their intermediate gray states, andthe same is true of some other types of electro-optic displays. Thistype of display is properly called “multi-stable” rather than bistable,although for convenience the term “bistable” may be used herein to coverboth bistable and multi-stable displays.

The term “impulse” is used herein in its conventional meaning of theintegral of voltage with respect to time. However, some bistableelectro-optic media act as charge transducers, and with such media analternative definition of impulse, namely the integral of current overtime (which is equal to the total charge applied) may be used. Theappropriate definition of impulse should be used, depending on whetherthe medium acts as a voltage-time impulse transducer or a charge impulsetransducer.

Much of the discussion below will focus on methods for driving anelectro-optic display through a transition from an initial gray level toa final gray level (which may or may not be different from the initialgray level). The term “waveform” will be used to denote the entirevoltage against time curve used to effect the transition from onespecific initial gray level to a specific final gray level. Such awaveform may comprise a plurality of waveform elements; where theseelements are essentially rectangular (i.e., where a given elementcomprises application of a constant voltage for a period of time); theelements may be called “pulses” or “drive pulses”. The term “drivescheme” denotes a set of waveforms sufficient to effect all possibletransitions between gray levels for a specific display. A display maymake use of more than one drive scheme; for example, the aforementionedU.S. Pat. No. 7,012,600 teaches that a drive scheme may need to bemodified depending upon parameters such as the temperature of thedisplay or the time for which it has been in operation during itslifetime, and thus a display may be provided with a plurality ofdifferent drive schemes to be used at differing temperature etc. A setof drive schemes used in this manner may be referred to as “a set ofrelated drive schemes.” It is also possible, as described in several ofthe aforementioned MEDEOD applications, to use more than one drivescheme simultaneously in different areas of the same display, and a setof drive schemes used in this manner may be referred to as “a set ofsimultaneous drive schemes.”

Several types of electro-optic displays are known. One type ofelectro-optic display is a rotating bichromal member type as described,for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,808,783; 5,777,782; 5,760,761;6,054,071 6,055,091; 6,097,531; 6,128,124; 6,137,467; and 6,147,791(although this type of display is often referred to as a “rotatingbichromal ball” display, the term “rotating bichromal member” ispreferred as more accurate since in some of the patents mentioned abovethe rotating members are not spherical). Such a display uses a largenumber of small bodies (typically spherical or cylindrical) which havetwo or more sections with differing optical characteristics, and aninternal dipole. These bodies are suspended within liquid-filledvacuoles within a matrix, the vacuoles being filled with liquid so thatthe bodies are free to rotate. The appearance of the display is changedby applying an electric field thereto, thus rotating the bodies tovarious positions and varying which of the sections of the bodies isseen through a viewing surface. This type of electro-optic medium istypically bistable.

Another type of electro-optic display uses an electrochromic medium, forexample an electrochromic medium in the form of a nanochromic filmcomprising an electrode formed at least in part from a semi-conductingmetal oxide and a plurality of dye molecules capable of reversible colorchange attached to the electrode; see, for example O'Regan, B., et al.,Nature 1991, 353, 737; and Wood, D., Information Display, 18(3), 24(March 2002). See also Bach, U., et al., Adv. Mater., 2002, 14(11), 845.Nanochromic films of this type are also described, for example, in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,301,038; 6,870,657; and 6,950,220. This type of medium isalso typically bistable.

Another type of electro-optic display is an electro-wetting displaydeveloped by Philips and described in Hayes, R. A., et al., “Video-SpeedElectronic Paper Based on Electrowetting”, Nature, 425, 383-385 (2003).It is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,549 that such electro-wettingdisplays can be made bistable.

One type of electro-optic display, which has been the subject of intenseresearch and development for a number of years, is the particle-basedelectrophoretic display, in which a plurality of charged particles movesthrough a fluid under the influence of an electric field.Electrophoretic displays can have attributes of good brightness andcontrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low powerconsumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. Nevertheless,problems with the long-term image quality of these displays haveprevented their widespread usage. For example, particles that make upelectrophoretic displays tend to settle, resulting in inadequateservice-life for these displays.

As noted above, electrophoretic media require the presence of a fluid.In most prior art electrophoretic media, this fluid is a liquid, butelectrophoretic media can be produced using gaseous fluids; see, forexample, Kitamura, T., et al., “Electrical toner movement for electronicpaper-like display”, IDW Japan, 2001, Paper HCS1-1, and Yamaguchi, Y, etal., “Toner display using insulative particles chargedtriboelectrically”, IDW Japan, 2001, Paper AMD4-4). See also U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,321,459 and 7,236,291. Such gas-based electrophoretic mediaappear to be susceptible to the same types of problems due to particlesettling as liquid-based electrophoretic media, when the media are usedin an orientation which permits such settling, for example in a signwhere the medium is disposed in a vertical plane. Indeed, particlesettling appears to be a more serious problem in gas-basedelectrophoretic media than in liquid-based ones, since the lowerviscosity of gaseous suspending fluids as compared with liquid onesallows more rapid settling of the electrophoretic particles.

Numerous patents and applications assigned to or in the names of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and E Ink Corporationdescribe various technologies used in encapsulated electrophoretic andother electro-optic media. Such encapsulated media comprise numeroussmall capsules, each of which itself comprises an internal phasecontaining electrophoretically-mobile particles in a fluid medium, and acapsule wall surrounding the internal phase. Typically, the capsules arethemselves held within a polymeric binder to form a coherent layerpositioned between two electrodes. The technologies described in thethese patents and applications include:

-   -   (a) Electrophoretic particles, fluids and fluid additives; see        for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,002,728; and 7,679,814;    -   (b) Capsules, binders and encapsulation processes; see for        example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,922,276; and 7,411,719;    -   (c) Films and sub-assemblies containing electro-optic materials;        see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,982,178; and 7,839,564;    -   (d) Backplanes, adhesive layers and other auxiliary layers and        methods used in displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos.        7,116,318; and 7,535,624;    -   (e) Color formation and color adjustment; see for example U.S.        Pat. Nos. 7,075,502; and 7,839,564;    -   (f) Methods for driving displays; see the aforementioned MEDEOD        applications;    -   (g) Applications of displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos.        7,312,784; and 7,312,784; and    -   (h) Non-electrophoretic displays, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos.        6,241,921; 6,950,220; 7,420,549 8,319,759; and 8,994,705 and        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0293858.

Many of the aforementioned patents and applications recognize that thewalls surrounding the discrete microcapsules in an encapsulatedelectrophoretic medium could be replaced by a continuous phase, thusproducing a so-called polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display, inwhich the electrophoretic medium comprises a plurality of discretedroplets of an electrophoretic fluid and a continuous phase of apolymeric material, and that the discrete droplets of electrophoreticfluid within such a polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display may beregarded as capsules or microcapsules even though no discrete capsulemembrane is associated with each individual droplet; see for example,the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,760. Accordingly, for purposes ofthe present application, such polymer-dispersed electrophoretic mediaare regarded as sub-species of encapsulated electrophoretic media.

A related type of electrophoretic display is a so-called “microcellelectrophoretic display”. In a microcell electrophoretic display, thecharged particles and the fluid are not encapsulated withinmicrocapsules but instead are retained within a plurality of cavitiesformed within a carrier medium, typically a polymeric film. See, forexample, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,672,921 and 6,788,449, both assigned to SipixImaging, Inc.

Although electrophoretic media are often opaque (since, for example, inmany electrophoretic media, the particles substantially blocktransmission of visible light through the display) and operate in areflective mode, many electrophoretic displays can be made to operate ina so-called “shutter mode” in which one display state is substantiallyopaque and one is light-transmissive. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos.5,872,552; 6,130,774; 6,144,361; 6,172,798; 6,271,823; 6,225,971; and6,184,856. Dielectrophoretic displays, which are similar toelectrophoretic displays but rely upon variations in electric fieldstrength, can operate in a similar mode; see U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,346.Other types of electro-optic displays may also be capable of operatingin shutter mode. Electro-optic media operating in shutter mode may beuseful in multi-layer structures for full color displays; in suchstructures, at least one layer adjacent the viewing surface of thedisplay operates in shutter mode to expose or conceal a second layermore distant from the viewing surface.

An encapsulated electrophoretic display typically does not suffer fromthe clustering and settling failure mode of traditional electrophoreticdevices and provides further advantages, such as the ability to print orcoat the display on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates.(Use of the word “printing” is intended to include all forms of printingand coating, including, but without limitation: pre-metered coatingssuch as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascadecoating, curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating,forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spraycoating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knifecoating; silk screen printing processes; electrostatic printingprocesses; thermal printing processes; ink jet printing processes;electrophoretic deposition (See U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,715); and othersimilar techniques.) Thus, the resulting display can be flexible.Further, because the display medium can be printed (using a variety ofmethods), the display itself can be made inexpensively.

Other types of electro-optic media may also be used in the displays ofthe present invention.

The bistable or multi-stable behavior of particle-based electrophoreticdisplays, and other electro-optic displays displaying similar behavior(such displays may hereinafter for convenience be referred to as“impulse driven displays”), is in marked contrast to that ofconventional liquid crystal (“LC”) displays. Twisted nematic liquidcrystals are not bi- or multi-stable but act as voltage transducers, sothat applying a given electric field to a pixel of such a displayproduces a specific gray level at the pixel, regardless of the graylevel previously present at the pixel. Furthermore, LC displays are onlydriven in one direction (from non-transmissive or “dark” to transmissiveor “light”), the reverse transition from a lighter state to a darker onebeing effected by reducing or eliminating the electric field. Finally,the gray level of a pixel of an LC display is not sensitive to thepolarity of the electric field, only to its magnitude, and indeed fortechnical reasons commercial LC displays usually reverse the polarity ofthe driving field at frequent intervals. In contrast, bistableelectro-optic displays act, to a first approximation, as impulsetransducers, so that the final state of a pixel depends not only uponthe electric field applied and the time for which this field is applied,but also upon the state of the pixel prior to the application of theelectric field.

Whether or not the electro-optic medium used is bistable, to obtain ahigh-resolution display, individual pixels of a display must beaddressable without interference from adjacent pixels. One way toachieve this objective is to provide an array of non-linear elements,such as transistors or diodes, with at least one non-linear elementassociated with each pixel, to produce an “active matrix” display. Anaddressing or pixel electrode, which addresses one pixel, is connectedto an appropriate voltage source through the associated non-linearelement. Typically, when the non-linear element is a transistor, thepixel electrode is connected to the drain of the transistor, and thisarrangement will be assumed in the following description, although it isessentially arbitrary and the pixel electrode could be connected to thesource of the transistor. Conventionally, in high resolution arrays, thepixels are arranged in a two-dimensional array of rows and columns, suchthat any specific pixel is uniquely defined by the intersection of onespecified row and one specified column. The sources of all thetransistors in each column are connected to a single column electrode,while the gates of all the transistors in each row are connected to asingle row electrode; again the assignment of sources to rows and gatesto columns is conventional but essentially arbitrary, and could bereversed if desired. The row electrodes are connected to a row driver,which essentially ensures that at any given moment only one row isselected, i.e., that there is applied to the selected row electrode avoltage such as to ensure that all the transistors in the selected roware conductive, while there is applied to all other rows a voltage suchas to ensure that all the transistors in these non-selected rows remainnon-conductive. The column electrodes are connected to column drivers,which place upon the various column electrodes voltages selected todrive the pixels in the selected row to their desired optical states.(The aforementioned voltages are relative to a common front electrodewhich is conventionally provided on the opposed side of theelectro-optic medium from the non-linear array and extends across thewhole display.) After a pre-selected interval known as the “line addresstime” the selected row is deselected, the next row is selected, and thevoltages on the column drivers are changed so that the next line of thedisplay is written. This process is repeated so that the entire displayis written in a row-by-row manner.

Alternatively, with an electro-optic medium which has a substantialthreshold voltage (which most electrophoretic media do not) passivematrix driving may be used. In this type of driving, two sets ofparallel elongate electrodes are provided on opposed sides of theelectro-optic layer, with the two sets of electrodes being arrangedperpendicular to each other, so that each pixel is defined by theintersection of one electrode in each of the two sets. Finally,electro-optic displays can make use of so-called “direct driving”, inwhich a plurality of pixels are each provided with a separate conductorlinking a pixel electrode to a display controller, which can thusdirectly control the potential of each pixel electrode.

Active and passive matrix displays are complicated and costly,especially in the case of large area displays, since the cost of thenecessary electrodes tends to be a function of display area rather thannumber of pixels. However, active and passive matrix displays do havethe flexibility to display any image, and can thus represent bothpictures and text of varying point sizes. Direct drive displays tend tobe less expensive, but lack flexibility, and if capable of displayingtext typically are limited to a single point size and require a verylarge number of connections between the pixel electrodes and thecontroller; see, for example, U.S. Design Pat. No. D485,294, whichrequires 63 pixels to represent one character of various versions of theLatin alphabet in a single point size.

Hitherto, most commercial applications of electrophoretic and similarbistable electro-optic displays have been in small, relatively expensiveproducts (such as electronic document readers, watches and solid statememory devices) where the expense of an active matrix display can betolerated, or a simple direct drive display suffices. However, there isincreasing interest in applying such displays to furniture andarchitectural applications (see the aforementioned application Ser. No.14/934,662), and in such applications the expense of either activematrix or direct driving is difficult to tolerate. Furthermore, in manyfurniture and architectural applications, the electro-optic display isintended to provide simple, typically moving, geometric patterns, sothat the complex text and graphics capabilities of active matrix anddirect drive displays are unnecessary. The present invention seeks toprovide displays and driving methods useful in such furniture andarchitectural applications.

Previous proposals have been made to use resistor networks to controlimaging; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,679,967 and 5,400,122. Thedisplays and driving methods of the present invention do not make use ofsuch resistor networks.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a (first or “spaced contact”) displaycomprising a layer of electro-optic material, and first and secondelectrodes on opposed sides of the layer of electro-optic material, atleast one of the first and second electrodes being light-transmissive,and at least one of the first and second electrodes having at least twospaced contacts, and voltage control means arranged to vary thepotential difference between the two spaced contacts attached to thesame electrode.

The term “light-transmissive” is used herein in its conventional meaningin the display art, as described for example in the aforementioned U.S.Pat. No. 6,982,178, to mean transmitting sufficient visible light toenable an observer viewing the electro-optic material through thelight-transmissive electrode to observe changes in the optical state ofthe electro-optic material.

In a preferred form of the spaced contact display of the presentinvention, both the first and second electrodes have at least two spacedcontacts and the voltage control means is arranged to vary the potentialdifferences between of the two spaced contacts attached to eachelectrode. The or each electrode may of course have more than two spacedcontacts; if this is the case, it is not absolutely essential that thevoltage control means be arranged to vary the potentials of all but oneof these contacts independently of each other; for example, the contactsmay be divided into two or more groups, with the contacts in each groupbeing maintained at the same potential but with a potential differencebeing applied between the different groups.

The spaced contact display of the present invention may have more thanone electrode on each side of the layer of electro-optic medium. Indeed,in the case of very large displays (perhaps covering very large walls),it may be necessary or desirable for the display to be divided into aseries of separate modules, each of which has an electro-optic layersandwiched between first and second electrodes. Also, a spaced displayof the present invention may have differing numbers of electrodes oneach side of the layer of electro-optic medium.

In the spaced contact display of the present invention, the or eachelectrode having at least two contacts may simply have the form of auniform strip extending between the two contacts. However, moreinteresting visual effects may be produced by using non-uniformelectrodes. For example, at least one of the first and second electrodesmay be interrupted by at least one non-conductive area such thatelectrical current must follow a non-linear path between the twocontacts on that electrode. Examples of possible geometric arrangementsof such non-linear paths are discussed below with reference to thedrawings. Alternatively, at least one of the first and second electrodesmay be divided into a plurality of sections having differing electricalresistance per unit length, and/or into a plurality of sections havingdiffering electrical capacitance per unit area.

As discussed in several of the MEDEOD applications mentioned above, ifthe waveform applied to an electro-optic display is not DC balanced,damage to the electrodes may result, especially in the case oflight-transmissive electrodes, which are typically very thin, less than1 μm. To reduce or eliminate such damage to electrodes, at least part ofone of the first and second electrodes may be provided with apassivation layer disposed between the electrode and the layer ofelectro-optic material. Appropriate passivation layers are described in,for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,519.

The present invention also provides a method of driving a spaced contactelectro-optic display, the method comprising: providing a displaycomprising a layer of electro-optic material, first and secondelectrodes on opposed sides of the layer of electro-optic material, atleast one of the first and second electrodes having at least two spacedcontacts; and applying between the two contacts on the same electrode apotential difference which varies with time.

In such a “spaced contact” method, both the first and second electrodesmay have at least two spaced contacts and the voltage control means maybe arranged to apply a potential difference which varies with timebetween the pairs of contacts attached to both the first and secondelectrodes; the voltage control means may vary the potential differencesapplied to the first and second electrodes at differing frequencies. Thevoltage control means may vary the potential differences applied to atleast one of the first and second electrodes as, for example, a sinewave, a triangular wave, a saw tooth wave or a square wave of fixed orvarying frequency.

This invention also provides a (second or “isolated electrode”) displaycomprising a layer of electro-optic material, and a sequence of at leastthree electrodes disposed adjacent the layer of electro-optic materialso as to apply an electric field thereto, the electrodes on at least onesurface of the layer of electro-optic material being light-transmissive,and voltage control means arranged to vary the potential differencebetween the first and last electrodes of the sequence, and wherein:

-   -   (a) each electrode of the sequence lies on the opposed side of        the layer of electro-optic material from both the electrode        which precedes it in the sequence and the electrode which        follows it in the sequence;    -   (b) each electrode of the sequence has a first edge which        overlaps with or lies adjacent the electrode which precedes it        in the sequence and a second edge which overlaps with or lies        adjacent the electrode which follows it in the sequence; and    -   (c) each electrode of the sequence, other than the first and        last thereof, is electrically isolated such that the potential        thereof is controlled by passage of current through the layer of        electro-optic material.

This invention also provides a method of driving an isolated electrodedisplay of the present invention, which method comprises providing anisolated contact display (as defined above) and causing the voltagecontrol means to apply a potential difference between the first and lastelectrodes of the sequence. The voltage control means may be arranged toapply a potential difference which varies with time between the firstand last electrodes.

The displays and driving methods of the present invention may make useof any of the type of electro-optic media discussed above. Thus, forexample, the electro-optic display may comprise a rotating bichromalmember, electrochromic or electro-wetting material. Alternatively, theelectro-optic display may comprise an electrophoretic materialcomprising a plurality of electrically charged particles disposed in afluid and capable of moving through the fluid under the influence of anelectric field. The electrically charged particles and the fluid may beconfined within a plurality of capsules or microcells. Alternatively,the electrically charged particles and the fluid may be present as aplurality of discrete droplets surrounded by a continuous phasecomprising a polymeric material. The fluid may be liquid or gaseous.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a highly schematic top plan viewof a display of the present invention illustrating the positions of thecontacts on the first and second electrodes, this display being intendedfor use as a coffee table.

FIG. 2 is a highly schematic section along the line II-II in FIG. 1looking in the direction of the arrow.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of a second display of the inventionin which gaps are provided in one electrode so that electrical currentmust follow a non-linear path between the two contacts on thatelectrode.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top plan view, generally similar to that of FIG.3, of a third display of the invention in which one electrode is dividedinto of sections having differing electrical resistance per unit length.

FIG. 5 display of the invention in which one electrode has regions ofvarying capacitance per unit area.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-section through a fifth, isolated electrodedisplay of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As already mentioned, the present invention provides a spaced contactdisplay comprising a layer of electro-optic material, first and secondelectrodes on opposed sides of the layer of electro-optic material, atleast one of the first and second electrodes having at least two spacedcontacts, and voltage control means arranged to vary the potentialdifference between the two spaced contacts attached to the sameelectrode.

As described above, most conventional electro-optic displays, whether ofthe active matrix or direct drive types, use a single light-transmissive“common” electrode on one side of the electro-optic layer and an arrayof electrodes (either pixel electrodes or direct drive electrodes) onthe opposed side of the electro-optic layer. The potential differencebetween each of the array of electrodes and the common electrode iscontrolled by the display driver, so that each array electrode controls(in principle) the changes in optical state of the area of electro-opticmedium lying between that array electrode and the common electrode,these changes depending on the polarity and magnitude of the potentialdifference and the time for which it is applied. (It is common practiceto provide multiple connections to the front electrode to reduce therisk of bad contacts, but such multiple connections are notindependently controllable.) In contrast, the display of the presentinvention relies upon potential differences between two or more spacedcontacts on a single electrode to generate potential gradients withinthat electrode, and hence varying potential differences betweendifference areas of that single electrode and the electrode on theopposed side of the electro-optic layer. (If, as is typically the case,both electrodes of the display are provided with multiple contacts,potential gradients will exist within both electrodes, and the potentialdifference applied to any point in the electro-optic layer will be thedifference between the potentials at the points on the two electrodeslying on either side of the selected point in the electro-optic layer.)Thus, the potential difference applied to the electro-optic layer willvary continuously across the electro-optic layer, and will result in acorresponding continuous variation in the optical state of theelectro-optic medium. These potential difference allow the generation ofsimple patterns and switching effects.

Since the display of the present invention is intended to operate bydeveloping potential gradients within the electrodes (by providing,within one electrode, a potential gradient between the two or morecontacts attached to the electrode), the resistance provided by theelectrodes is of major importance. Too low an electrode resistance wouldproduce excessive currents within the electrode, which may short outelectronics in the voltage control means, and may cause other problems,for example excessive local heating which might damage the electro-opticlayer. On the other hand, excessive electrode resistance may result invery short range propagation of voltages from the spaced contacts,resulting in switching of only very small areas adjacent the contactsand the need for numerous contacts if the entire area of the display isto be switched. Although of course optimum electrode resistance willvary with the size of the display, the number of contacts and theproperties of the specific electro-optic medium used, in general theresistance of the electrodes should not fall substantially below 300ohms/square. In practice with indium tin oxide (ITO) and similar ceramicelectrodes, above about 5000 ohms/square problems are encountered withelectrode continuity and reliability, while below 300 ohms/square theincreasing thickness of the electrode causes problems with increasedlight loss. Thus, in general a conductivity range of about 300 to about5000 ohms/square is generally recommended. Other light-transmissiveconductors such as PEDOT, carbon nanotubes, graphene and nanowires canof course be used if desired.

The electro-optic materials used in the displays of the presentinvention will normally be bistable display materials such aselectrochromic, rotating bichromal member or electrophoretic materials.Such bistable materials change their electro-optic states only afterexposure to electric field for significant periods, typically of theorder of 0.1 to 1 second. Accordingly, the appearance of the display ofthe present invention is controlled not only by the potentials presenton the various areas of each electrode as the potentials at the spacedcontacts vary, but also by the speed at which the electro-optic materialused reacts to the electric fields to which it is exposed. Also, asdiscussed in some of the aforementioned MEDEOD applications, someelectro-optic materials are subject to a phenomenon known as “blooming”by which changes in potential at an electrode affect the electro-opticstate of the material over an area larger than that of the electrodeitself. Although blooming is often treated as a problem in electro-opticdisplays, since it tends to distort the image displayed, in at leastsome displays of the present invention blooming may actually beadvantageous in hiding otherwise inactive areas of the display. Forexample, as already mentioned in some displays of the present invention,the first and/or second electrode may be interrupted by at least onenon-conductive area such that electrical current must follow anon-linear path between the two contacts on that electrode. Blooming maybe used to conceal the optical effects of such non-conductive areas.Indeed, in some cases it may be desirable to engineer the electro-opticmaterial with increased blooming to assist in such concealment.

A typical display of the present invention may comprise the followinglayers in order:

-   -   (a) a transparent conductive layer (the “front electrode”)        forming the viewing surface of the display;    -   (b) a layer of an encapsulated electrophoretic medium;    -   (c) a layer of lamination adhesive; and    -   (d) a “backplane” comprising of a substrate (typically a        polymeric film) and a conductor which need not be transparent        A least two areas of each electrode in layers (a) and (d) are        cleaned to expose the conductor for electrical contacts, which        can be independently addressed. Finally, the display comprises a        voltage control means to drive the front electrode and the        backplane to positive and negative potentials relative to each        other, and to produce a potential gradient within each        electrode.

Such a display has been produced using the following materials. Thefront electrode was formed of 5 mil (127 μm) polyethylene terephthalatecoated on one surface with ITO, grade OC300 or 450. Alternatively, thefront electrode can be coated on to the remaining layer of the displaywithout any supporting substrate. The encapsulated electrophoreticmedium was substantially as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,270,064, andthe lamination adhesive was a 25 μm layer substantially as described inU.S. Pat. No. 7,012,735 containing 5000 ppm of tetrabutylammoniumhexafluorophosphate dopant to control electrical properties. Thebackplane was a PET/ITO film similar to that used for the frontelectrode, but a printed carbon conductor or other low cost transparentor non-transparent conductor could be substituted.

A display of this type in use as a coffee table is illustratedschematically in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. As shown inFIG. 1, the coffee table (generally designated 100) comprises anelongate rectangular glass top 102 supported at its four corners on legs104. The display itself, generally designated 106, is supported beneaththe glass top 102 of the table so that the glass top can protect thedisplay 106 from mechanical damage.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display 106 comprises a PET film 108 bearing anITO front electrode 110 which extends across the entire area of thedisplay 106. In contact with the front electrode 110 is an encapsulatedelectrophoretic medium 112, the lower surface of which carries a layerof lamination adhesive 114, which secures the encapsulatedelectrophoretic medium 112 to a backplane comprising a layer of ITOelectrode 116 on a PET film 118. As shown in FIG. 1, the front electrode110 is provided with four contacts T1-T4 arranged close to the cornersof the rectangular table, while the backplane electrode 116 is similarlyprovided with four contacts B1-B4 arranged in a similar manner.

FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the contacts T1-T4 and B1-B4 areformed. The contacts B1-B4 are produced by kiss cutting aperturesthrough the upper film 108, typically with a laser cutter, and cleaningthe underlying portions of the electrophoretic medium 112 and thelamination adhesive 114. Similarly, the contacts T1-T4 are produced bykiss cutting apertures through the lower film 118 and cleaning theoverlying portions of the electrophoretic medium 112 and the laminationadhesive 114 using solvent and rubbing either by hand or with mechanicalmeans like an electric toothbrush. The resultant apertures are filledwith a conductive material, for example a carbon-filled adhesive or aconductive ink, to produce contacts which can be addressed individually.A voltage control means capable of driving contacts T1-T4 and B1-B4independently to positive and negative potentials is provided by adisplay controller (not shown) having 12 outputs each capable ofsupplying any voltage and waveform between ±30 V programmable on eachchannel independently, 30V and also having a high impedance or floatstate. The controller has one drive line for each output, direct drive.

The display shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be constructed substantially asdescribed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178. A PET/ITO film(which will eventually form the lower film 108 and the electrode 110) iscoated with, or laminated to, the electrophoretic medium 112 to form aPET/ITO/electro-optic subassembly. A second PET/ITO film (which willeventually form the lower film 118 and the electrode 116) is laminatedto the subassembly with lamination adhesive. As previously noted, thelower electrode 116 may or may not be transparent since theelectrophoretic medium 112 does not transmit light. The resultantstructure is a full electro-optic display capable of switching givencorrect electrical connections. This medium can be created on a largeroll-to-roll basis and can be cut (typically laser cut) to the sizerequired for individual displays, say 16×60 inches (406×1523 mm) for theillustrated coffee table. Other construction methods could also be used,for example formation of a front plane laminate (FPL) as described inthe aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178, followed by cutting of theFPL being cut to size before lamination to the backplane. The substratein the kiss cut area is removed and then the electrophoretic media iscleaned. The greater the number of contacts and the spatial distributionof these contacts around the periphery of the display, the more complexthe pattern of switching that can be effected.

The driving of the display shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may for example beeffected top contacts T2 and T3 set to −20V and +20V respectively, whilebackplane contacts B2 and B3 are set to ground, with all of theremaining contacts allowed to float. If this driving pattern ismaintained for more than about 1 second, the optical state of theelectrophoretic layer will be half dark and half white with a diffusegradient area in the center. If the driven electrodes are instead fedvariable voltage patterns instead of fixed voltages, moving patterns areproduced in the electrophoretic layer. For example, if one contactreceives a 20V amplitude sine wave at 0.1 Hz frequency and the otherdriven contact on the same electrode receives a 20V amplitude sine waveat 0.09 Hz frequency, a wave of black to white switching will moveslowly across the display with different speeds and differentdirections, left to right or right to left, varying with time due to thediffering frequency of the two sine waves supplied. The speed anddirection of the moving wave of white to black or black to white can bemade to be constant and repeating by making the frequency of the twosine waves the same and giving them a constant phase difference. Morecomplex patterns can be formed by driving two contacts at opposite endsof a diagonal of the display, especially if the opposite diagonals areused in the top and bottom electrodes. Still more complex patterns canbe produced by providing a larger number of contacts around theperiphery of the display.

Although the display shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has electrodes in the formof simple rectangles, so that each electrode is essentially uniformbetween the spaced contacts at its two ends, the present invention isnot restricted to rectangular or any particular shape of displays, andinteresting effects can be produced using polygonal (for example,hexagonal or octagonal) displays, or circular or elliptical displays. Insuch cases, one or more contacts may be provided around the periphery ofthe display and another contact in the center of the display so thatchanges in the electro-optic material propagate radially rather thanlinearly. Furthermore, the present invention is not confined to planar,two-dimensional displays, but may be applied to three-dimensionalobjects. Both electrodes and electro-optic media can be deposited onthree-dimensional objects; for example, electrodes formed from organicconductors may be deposited from solution and electrophoretic media maybe deposited by spray techniques.

Furthermore, interesting optical effects may be obtained by providinggaps in one or both electrodes, for example by removing or chemicallyaltering the electrode material, so that electrical current must followa non-linear path between the two contacts on that electrode. FIG. 3 isa schematic top plan view of a display (generally designated 300) ofthis type. As with the display 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display300 has the form of an elongate rectangle, with strip contacts 302 and304 provided at it opposed ends. The electrode 306 extending between thecontacts 302 and 304 is interrupted by a plurality of non-conductiveareas 308 so that electrical current (and thus electro-optic effects)must follow a substantially sinusoidal course between the contacts 302and 304.

Non-conductive areas such as areas 308 in FIG. 3 can be used to“channel” electro-optic effects in a variety of interesting patterns.For example, a circular, elliptical or polygonal display may have asingle contact on the periphery of the display, a second contact at thecenter of the display, and a spiral non-conductive areas to channelelectro-optic effects along a spiral electrode extending between the twocontacts. Even greater freedom of design is available in the case ofthree-dimensional displays; for example, a display formed on acylindrical substrate could use a helical non-conductive area to channelelectro-optic effects along a helical path between contacts provided atopposed ends of the cylindrical substrate.

As already mentioned, in a spaced contact display of the presentinvention, at least one of the first and second electrodes may bedivided into a plurality of sections having differing electricalresistance per unit length, and a schematic top plan view of such adisplay (generally designated 400) is shown in FIG. 4. The display 400is generally similar to the display 300 shown in FIG. 3 in that thedisplay 400 has the form of an elongate rectangle provided at itsopposed ends with contacts 402 and 404. Also, like the display 300, thedisplay 400 is provided with non-conductive areas 408. However, thearrangement of the areas 408 differs from that of the areas 308 in FIG.3; the areas 408 are in the form of two adjacent pairs of area extendingfrom opposed long edges of the display 400 so as to leave between eachadjacent pair a narrow “neck” or “isthmus” of conductive material 410 or412. Thus, current passing between the contacts 402 and 404 passessuccessively through a low resistance region 414, the high resistanceneck 410, a low resistance region 416, the high resistance neck 412 anda low resistance region 418.

FIG. 4 illustrates the formation of regions of varying resistance byvarying the width of the electrode, but of course other techniques forvarying resistance could be employed. For example, the display shown inFIG. 4 could be modified by replacing each neck region 410 and 412 withcontacts provided on the adjacent regions and interconnected via anappropriate resistor. To avoid the unsightly presence of visibleelectrical components, resistors and associated conductors could beaccommodated within the frame surrounding the display, such as is oftenpresent in, for example, conventional coffee tables. The ability tointerconnect electrode regions “invisibly” by means of electricalcomponents disposed within such a frame does provide an additionaldegree of design freedom, namely the ability to arrange electrodesegments electrically in an order which differs from their physicallocation. For example, consider a modified version of the display 400 inwhich the electrode is divided into five segments (designated forconvenience A, B, C, D and E reading left to right in FIG. 4) ratherthan the three segments 414, 416 and 418 shown in FIG. 4, with thesegments A-E being interconnected via conductors and resistors hiddenwithin a frame. The electrical interconnections could be arranged sothat the electrodes segments are electrically interconnected in theorder (say) A, D, B, C, E, which will produce electro-optic effectswhich appear to jump around the display rather than progressing linearlyalong it as in the display 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Instead of providing regions of various resistance within an electrode,regions of varying capacitance may be used, and a schematiccross-section through such a display (generally designated 500) is shownin FIG. 5. The display 500 is generally similar to the displays 300 and400 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively inasmuch as it has the form ofan elongate rectangle with an electrode 506 provided with contacts 502and 504 at its opposed ends. However, unlike the illustrated electrodesof the displays 300 and 400, electrode 506 of display 500 isuninterrupted. However, electrode 506 is provided with regions ofvarying capacitance per unit area by providing, on the opposed side ofelectro-optic medium from electrode 506 a series of spaced electrodes512, all of which are grounded. It will readily be apparent that regionsof the electrode 506 lying opposite electrodes 512 will have asubstantially greater capacitance per unit area than regions of theelectrode 512 which do not lie opposite electrodes 512, thus providingvariations in the electro-optical performance of the display 500generally similar to those provided by the regions of varying resistancein display 400. (Typically, an adhesive layer similar to adhesive layer114 shown in FIG. 2 will be present either between electro-optic layer510 and electrode 506 or between electro-optic layer 510 and electrodes512. The adhesive layer is omitted from FIG. 5 for ease of illustrationbut its presence or absence makes no difference to the fundamentalmanner of operation of display 500.)

One embodiment of an isolated electrode display of the present inventionwill now be described with reference to FIG. 6. Conceptually, anisolated electrode display might be regarded as a modification of thevariable resistance electrode display of the type shown in FIG. 4, withthe modification comprising using the electro-optic layer itself as thehigh resistance regions between the low resistance electrodes. Thismodification places successive high resistance regions (electrodes) onopposed sides of the electro-optic layer, so that only a single set ofelectrodes are required.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the isolated electrode display(generally designated 600) has the form of an elongate rectangle similarto that of the displays comprises a layer 610 of electro-optic materialand a sequence of seven electrodes 612-624, each of which has the formof an elongate strip extending across the full width of the display. Thefirst and last electrodes 612 and 624 respectively are connected to avoltage control unit (indicated schematically at 626) which enables atime varying potential difference to be applied between electrodes 612and 624. The remaining electrodes 614-622 are electrically isolated sothat their potentials are controlled by passage of current through thelayer 610 of electro-optic material. The electrodes 612-624 alternatebetween the lower and upper surfaces (as illustrated) of the layer 610,and the electrodes 614, 618 and 622 on the upper surface (which is theviewing surface of the display) are light-transmissive; the electrodes612, 616, 620 and 624 may or may not be light-transmissive. As may beseen from FIG. 6, each of the electrodes 614-622 has a first edge (itsleft-hand edge as illustrated in FIG. 6) which overlaps with thepreceding electrode and a second edge (its right-hand edge asillustrated in FIG. 6) which overlaps with the following electrode. Itis not absolutely necessary that the adjacent edges overlap providedthat they lie adjacent each other so as to leave a conductive path ofreasonable length through the layer 610. It will be appreciated that itis not necessary that the first and second edges of the electrodes be onopposed sides of the electrode. For example, the electrodes 612-624could be in the form of isosceles triangles, so that the first andsecond edges would not be parallel, or the electrodes could be arrangedin the form of a checkerboard, in which case some electrodes would havefirst and second edges at right angles to each other.

Application of a time-varying potential difference by voltage controlmeans 626 between electrodes 612 and 624 will cause a complex variationin the potentials of the electrodes 614-622, depending upon factors suchas resistivity of the layer 610, the capacitances between theelectrodes, polarization within the layer 610, etc., and an even morecomplex variation in the optical state of the various parts of the layer610. Most commonly, the various parts of the layer 610 will be perceivedto “flicker” as the voltage applied by the voltage control means 626 isvaried.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention providesa display and driving method which enables moving changes in the opticalstate of an electro-optic medium (especially a bistable medium, such asan electrophoretic medium) and generation of patterns of visual interestwith very simple, inexpensive electrodes.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changesand modifications can be made in the specific embodiments of theinvention described above without departing from the scope of theinvention. For example, variable voltages are not, of course, confinedto simple sine waves; triangular waves, saw tooth waves and square wavesof fixed or varying frequency may all be employed. Accordingly, thewhole of the foregoing description is to be interpreted in anillustrative and not in a limitative sense.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A display comprising a layer of anelectrophoretic material comprising a plurality of electrically chargedparticles disposed in a fluid and capable of moving through the fluidunder the influence of an electric field, and first and secondelectrodes on opposed sides of the layer of electro-optic material, atleast one of the first and second electrode comprising a continuouslayer of conductive material having at least two spaced contactsconnected to a voltage control means arranged to vary the potentialdifference across the at least one of the first and second electrodebetween the two spaced contacts, wherein each contract comprises anaperture containing a conductive material, the aperture of each contactof the first electrode extending through at least one of the layer ofthe electrophoretic material and the second electrode, and the apertureof each contact of the second electrode extending through at least oneof the layer of the electrophoretic material and the first electrode. 2.A display according to claim 1 wherein both the first and secondelectrodes have at least two spaced contacts and the voltage controlmeans is arranged to vary the potential differences between the twospaced contacts of each electrode.
 3. A display according to claim 1,wherein the electrically charged particles and the fluid are confinedwithin a plurality of capsules or microcells.
 4. A display according toclaim 1, wherein the electrically charged particles and the fluid arepresent as a plurality of discrete droplets surrounded by a continuousphase comprising a polymeric material.
 5. A display according to claim 1wherein the second electrode is interrupted by at least onenon-conductive area such that electrical current must follow anon-linear path between the two contacts.
 6. A display according toclaim 1 wherein the second electrode is divided into a plurality ofsections having differing electrical resistance per unit length.
 7. Adisplay according to claim 1 wherein the second electrode is dividedinto a plurality of sections having differing electrical capacitance perunit area.
 8. A display according to claim 1 wherein at least part ofone of the first and second electrodes is provided with a passivationlayer disposed between the electrode and the layer of electro-opticmaterial.
 9. A method of driving an electro-optic display, the methodcomprising: providing a display comprising a layer of an electrophoreticmaterial comprising a plurality of electrically charged particlesdisposed in a fluid and capable of moving through the fluid under theinfluence of an electric field, first and second electrodes on opposedsides of the layer of electro-optic material, at least one the first andsecond electrode comprising a continuous layer of conductive materialhaving at least two spaced contacts connected to a voltage controller,wherein each contract comprises an aperture containing a conductivematerial, the aperture of each contact of the first electrode extendingthrough at least one of the layer of the electrophoretic material andthe second electrode, and the aperture of each contact of the secondelectrode extending through at least one of the layer of theelectrophoretic material and the first electrode; and applying apotential difference which varies with time across the at least one ofthe first and second electrode between the two contacts.
 10. A methodaccording to claim 9 wherein both the first and second electrodes haveat least two spaced contacts and the voltage control means is arrangedto apply a potential difference which varies with time between thecontacts of each electrode.
 11. A method according to claim 10 whereinthe voltage control means varies the potential differences applied tothe first and second electrodes at differing frequencies.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 10 wherein the voltage control means varies thepotential differences applied to at least one of the first and secondelectrodes as a sine wave, a triangular wave, a saw tooth wave or asquare wave of fixed or varying frequency.
 13. A display comprising alayer of electro-optic material, and a sequence of at least threeelectrodes disposed adjacent the layer of electro-optic material so asto apply an electric field thereto, the electrodes on at least onesurface of the layer of electro-optic material being light-transmissive,and voltage control means arranged to vary the potential differencebetween the first and last electrodes of the sequence, and wherein: (a)each electrode of the sequence lies on the opposed side of the layer ofelectro-optic material from both the electrode which precedes it in thesequence and the electrode which follows it in the sequence; (b) eachelectrode of the sequence other than the first and last has a first edgewhich overlaps with or lies adjacent the electrode which precedes it inthe sequence and a second edge which overlaps with or lies adjacent theelectrode which follows it in the sequence; and (c) each electrode ofthe sequence, other than the first and last thereof, is electricallyisolated such that the potential thereof is controlled by passage ofcurrent through the layer of electro-optic material.
 14. A method ofdriving a display according to claim 13 which comprises: providing adisplay according to claim 13; and causing the voltage control means toapply a potential difference between the first and last electrodes ofthe sequence.
 15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the voltagecontrol means is arranged to apply a potential difference which varieswith time between the first and last electrodes.